Untold Stories: Those (Snake) Eyes
by OmNomNomAttack
Summary: Knuckles only knew Snake Eyes for a few months and in the first few, things were weird... Then not weird. And very right. But now he's standing over a grave and there's nothing left but a lie. Warnings: Character death. Pairings: Snake Eyes/Knuckles


Tears welled up in Knuckles' eyes as he held a bouquet of red roses in his hands. He fell to his knees, to the soft ground of the grave in front of him. Eloise 'Snake-Eyes' Jones the stone read, beloved hoodlum and daughter. Knuckles took off his khaki hat, sniffling slightly in the crisp morning air. There was a wreath on the grave in front of him with pink and white flowers wrapped around it. The graves to the sides were those of his fellow hoodlums.

"Its just me now, Snake-Eyes." He rasped, rubbing his eyes slightly and coughing. "Sam's been busier than usual, trying to act normal." He looked around, there was another person in the graveyard with him, he recognised it as Yonkers from Dandy Dan's gang, placing a cream pie on a grave a few rows away. The two nodded to each other, in the graveyard, there was no enemies but time.

His eyes drifted across the bleak setting before resting once more on the grey stone in front of him. His mind wandered back to when Snake-Eyes was still alive.

_There was the tinkle of a bell as the door of Pop Becker's opened and Knuckles looked up from his paper and routine knuckle-cracking to see a man in a sharp suit, right hand clutching something as he looked around._

_"Hi, can I help you?" Knuckles asked, his trademarked smile spreading across his features. The figure in the door looked up at Knuckles and they're mouth automatically twitched into a bright smile. Knuckles quickly held his hands behind his back, flexing and clenching his hands, trying hard not to crack his knuckles._

_"They call me El-" They paused for a moment, looking down at their right hand before looking back at Knuckles. "Lewis. Lewis Jones." He walked to the counter, the smile on his face easing into a grin before he got to there, tossing a set of dice onto the countertop._

_"Odds are its seven." Knuckles said, pointing at the dice, giving up on trying not to crack his knuckles and just start again, as he would every few minutes. Lewis looked at Knuckles, taking off his hat - that was just a tad too small for his head - and placing it on the counter beside the dice which had landed on two ones. "Huh. Fancy that." Knuckles chuckled to himself, shaking his head._

A tear slipped down Knuckles' cheek as he pulled the set of dice from his pocket, he ran a thumb across the edge of them before clenching his fists, leaving dents in his palm.

_There was a loud crash and a resounding "Damn!" from the door. Knuckles looked up from his crossword - his guilty pleasure - to see Lewis, who had been named Snake-Eyes by Fat Sam, slumped in the doorframe panting and clutching his side. Knuckles ran to his side, helping him into the dingy shop-front and to sit, slumped against a bookshelf._

_"We need to get you medical attention. Is this your first pie?" He asked, to which Snake-Eyes let out a bitter laugh._

_"I'm not two." He groaned, pulling his hand away to reveal the seared skin and bleeding wound. With his bloody hand, Snake-Eyes pulled his dice from his pocket. As they always did, they landed on their trade-marked snake eyes. "You just need to apply pressure and constantly redress the wound, it won't kill me." He chuckled as Knuckles sighed._

_"Don't move." Knuckles muttered, cracking his knuckles as he went to the walkway to call for Fizzy. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Snake-Eyes lying on the ground, eyes closed as he rolled his dice by his side, repeating the same word over and over again, continuing to roll the dice._

_"What's up?" Fizzy asked. Knuckles snapped out of his trance-like state to turn to Fizzy._

_"Get bandages and hot water." He said. Fizzy hurried off and Knuckles was silent. All that could be heard was Snake-Eyes faint whisper of the same word and the rolling of the dice._

_"Two." Roll. "Two." Roll. "Two." Roll." Knuckles approached the almost rhythmic state Snake-Eyes had entered. He was silent for a moment, fairly sure Snake-Eyes didn't even know he was there, he still lay with his eyes closed, muttering to himself._

_"They're loaded, you know." Snake-Eyes eventually stopped mumbling, though he kept rolling the dice. Knuckles jumped slightly, making his fellow hoodlum chuckle. "The dice. They're loaded."_

Even as Knuckles sat in front of Snake-Eyes grave, the dice still yielded the same results every time. Two. Snake-Eyes. Even stained with blood and slightly ruined from the splurge. Two.

_"Mum? N-no, I'm not a secretary. I'm doing what I want to! Do not call me Eloise! What if Fat Sam heard me?" Knuckles heard the shouts from Fat Sam's office and peered in. Fat Sam and Tallulah had gone home for the day and Knuckles thought he and Fizzy were the only ones left. There was the slam of a phone being hung up and the sniffle of someone crying from the other side of the door. Knuckles knocked quietly._

_"Special, double strength, hold the olive, Fizzy." Knuckles recognised that as Snake-Eyes voice._

_"I… uh…" He spluttered for an explanation, seeing one of his best friends with their head on the desk, crying their eyes out._

_"Kn-Knuckles?" Snake-Eyes looked up, eyes red and watery. Knuckles watched, his knuckles cracking nervously as a range of emotions passes over Snake-Eyes face. Shock. Fear. Anger. Relief. Fear. Anger. "No." They mumbled, standing up, holding they're upper arms, crossing their arms over their chest protectively. "Its not meant to be like this. You're meant to be Fizzy! He's the only one who's meant to know." It dawns on Knuckles as he watches the way Snake-Eyes stares at him, in a way that says this whole thing was meant to be a secret._

_"Who is Eloise?" He asked. Snake-Eyes choked up, slumping to the ground before managing to say one word._

_"Me." It hit Knuckles like a train. He doubled over thinking for a while. "Knuckles," Snake-Eyes looked up at him, her eyes imploring, "I'm not a different person. I just… Wanted you to take me seriously. I wanted to be a part of the gang." She said._

_"You… You're…. Female?" He asked, to which Snake-Eyes sniffled, looking the other way._

_"I'm not… Its all I wanted to be. Everything I've ever wanted. My daddy was a hood, his daddy was a hood, his was a hood… I want to be Snake-Eyes, - Lewis- so bad. But I'm Eloise. My mamma doesn't like that. She wants me to want to be a secretary. Like her." She laughed bitterly. "I guess that's what I'll do then, that's all I'll be able to do once I leave." She stood on shaky legs,_

_"No." Knuckles walked towards Snake-Eyes, picking her dice off the desk as he went. Snake-Eyes just frowned slightly. Knuckles opened his hand, offering the set of dice to his fellow hood. "I'll keep your secret." He grinned at Snake-Eyes who looked rather like she couldn't believe it. She stood, shocked before stumbling forward, almost falling onto Knuckles, hugging him tightly._

_"Thankyou." She mumbled and Knuckles could tell she was crying again._

Knuckles was crying, he wouldn't admit it. If questioned, he would probably deny it. That didn't matter, Snake-Eyes was gone. Now he was left with the clothes he stood up in and a suitcase full of memories.

_It had become a tradition that the first Thursday of every month Snake-Eyes, Fizzy and Knuckles would have a drink once the Speak Easy was empty, even if that happened to be four in the morning. Sometimes Snake-Eyes couldn't make it, or Knuckles, or even both, but Fizzy was always there. This Thursday was different._

_"Hey, Knuckles, special, double strength." Snake-Eyes yawned slightly, slumping into a stool by the bar, Knuckles gathering three cups and fixing three drinks. The two of them sat in silence, drinking there drinks and leaving the third untouched. Fizzy was often late._

_"How've you been, Knuckles?" Snake-Eyes asked, grinning. Knuckles cracked his knuckles, finishing his own drink in a few gulps before shrugging._

_"Can't complain. Never do." He smiled slightly._

_"Hey…" Snake-Eyes fumbled with her words for a moment, before looking up at Knuckles who was giving her a questioning look, "How is my being… different…" She looked to the side, "Not weird?" She asked and Knuckles opened his mouth to speak but no words came out for a few minutes._

_"It… I guess… Damn." He sighed, slumping in his seat, making Snake-Eyes tip her head to one side._

_"What is it?" She asked to which Knuckles blushed slightly._

_"Well… It is weird. Honestly I thought I was weird before but… I guess its less weird now." He shrugged. Snake-Eyes thought for a moment._

_"What? How was it weirder befo-" Her eyes widened and she burned red. "Oh. Sorry." She mumbled._

_Knuckles laughed, "Don't apologies!" But the damage was done, Snake-Eyes was off her seat, bright red in the face, shaking her head._

_"My god, I am so sorry! That… that wasn't meant to happen!" She cried, trying not to look at Knuckles who was stumbling over his words, trying to get her to be quiet._

_"Don't! Don't apologies! Snake-Eyes! Lewis!" He let out a frustrated sigh before he said something he thought he would never admit. "What if I told you I loved you?" He said. She was silent, looking at him with wide hopeful eyes._

_"R-really?" She stuttered. Knuckles went bright red and accidentally tipped over Fizzy's drink, not that they noticed. "Were you… being serious?" She asked. Knuckles sighed, walking close and wrapping his arms around her._

_"I wouldn't lie to you." He mumbled. Snake-Eyes hugged him back, laughing in a soft and rather bewildered way. They stayed that was for a while, then there was a crash and tinkle of broken glass, the two jumped apart and finally noticed Fizzy's glass had fallen off the counter and smashed._

In the days that followed her death, Knuckles had been in denial, he had tried to live out his life as normally as possible but her name kept popping up everywhere, Sam seemed to say it every five minutes and Fizzy was always giving him these pitying stares. He argued with Sam, saying it wasn't safe to go, especially not when the informant's name was Shady. How two-timing did that sound? Answer, very.

He got up from where he kneeled on the ground, gave a quick nod to the rest of his gang who lay in graves beside his Snake-Eyes. He would grieve for them later but he needed to work through the deaths one at a time.


End file.
